Hello from Guatemala!

This photo was sneakily taken at Phipps Conservatory's Thai Wing, by Shila Wilson. I was sound asleep, a lizard in the sun. Just like I am here....

Oh, man. We're in Guatemala City. It's about 10:30 p.m. We've been up since 4:00 AM. Yeah, we're beat. But there's lightning fast Internet at our hotel, and we only have it for tonight. It took about 40 minutes to de-ice our plane in Columbus at 6 AM. The snow was pounding down. Cost us $200 to change our ticket and come a day early, but our other choice was sheets of ice and snow, and possibly missing a day or two in the humid lowland forest of Tikal. We decided to pay through the nose.
We're seeing good Guatemalan friends, and hanging with Jeff Gordon, and laughing a lot. We shopped today at the Artisan's Market, and our prize of prizes was a giant quilt made of sewn-together pieces of clothing from all over Guatemala. Amazing hand embroidery, including pieces of mens' pants that haven't been worn in Guatemala for 20 years. It's like having textile history all laid out in one beautiful work of art. For pictures, see Bill of the Birds' blog (link in blogroll to right).
I'll leave you, blearily, with a couple of pictures of our Whipple home the day before we left. Here's what a skunk does when it needs to cross a field in deep snow. Poor thing. I can imagine its plumy tail waving as it fought its way through the drift.
A closeup of the tracks.


Baker, of course, had to find out who left that intriguing track.

Baker makes a snow face when he's romping in white.

It's hard to say, but I haven't seen him skip lately. Which may have to do with the difficulty of going through deep snow. I'd like to think his left hind knee isn't bothering him any more. Let's hope.

Phoebe called us as we were checking into our hotel in G. City today, to tell us that Chet Baker had fallen through the ice of the fishpond. They heard a tremendous crash, and then Baker came roaring up and rolled around in the snow. Yeah, that'll help dry you off! They let him in and toweled him dry.

Man, it feels good just to hear about snow, ice, and cold. When we come back, we'll be a week closer to woodocks and spring peepers!

I don't know when I'll be able to post again, but prospects look good for periodic updates from our superfine hotel, when we're there. Tomorrow, to Tikal, for a hot date with a pair of orange-breasted falcons. Arriba!